Iv to go...

Bailey in her make shift bed on the floor. They used an empty pill box as a splint.

Iv bottle hanging from the close rack positioned on the couch
mustering a little energy to open a few birthday presents
Last Monday night Bailey started vomiting- ALOT! This led to a fever and diarrhea and more vomiting etc....

I had no idea that I was in for a week long (so far) fight to keep this girl hydrated and with some nutrition. It has been tough. Poor thing was even sick on her second birthday.

Chris and I have unanimously decided that the absolute worst thing about living here is the lack of medical care. Yes there are tons of other difficulties and challenges, but having your most precious treasure in the world sick and be unable to take her to a good Dr. or ER and be confident that you will get good care is absolutely agonizing. These challenges are the ones that make me fall on my knees the most. Time and time again I am smacked in the face with the fact that I am so INCAPABLE of truly protecting and caring for my children, and it is only God's grace that gets us through the day. Bailey and our little little baby are not ours. They are the Lord's.

Something that I did appreciate this week was the what I will call "iv to go". Bailey got so dehydrated that she had to get an iv. You would be surprised at how easy this actually is in China. In fact, there are little shops all over the place- on the street and in residential complexes- that have the things necessary for iv's and people that are actually quite good at putting them in. I've always thought it interesting that I can be walking down the street and "window shop" at people in the clinics sitting there getting iv's.

Anyway, we took our wonderful and ever so capable manager Teresa with us to the clinic in our complex to get Bailey a saline bolus. Much to my happy surprise Bailey was able to get the iv there and then we took her (and it) home. She sat on the couch for an hour watching "Jungle Book 2" with very little notice of the needle in her hand and the contraption she was attached to. (We did have to be a little clever about how we would hang it and ended up hanging it on our clothes drying rack.) Afterward I called the clinic and a nurse came by and took it out! How awesome is that!! I will definitely keep this in mind for the future.

Bailey did seem to take a turn for the better after the iv, and she has not thrown up in over 24 hours!!! We do have our bags packed for Thailand if need be, but for now we are rejoicing for every hour that goes by that she keeps something down. I'm sure we're not done with it yet, but maybe we're on the up swing??